Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Date? Date! - 4
***
Renia and I sat on a bench in the central plaza of the amusement park after leaving the hamburger restaurant.
People bustled past, the plaza filled with a cacophony of noise and occasional screams of excitement.
Despite all the commotion, it felt as if Renia and I were the only two people in the world.
‘Hmm, was that too much?’
Renia sat with a stiff posture, her back straight and her expression unreadable. I awkwardly scratched my cheek.
Fortunately, her Affection Level remained at 99.9%, but that high number had made me complacent, leading to my impulsive request.
It had backfired.
Suddenly asking for a kiss must have startled her.
I had just casually asked, since we had done it before, but it seemed that was a one-sided assumption.
How could I fix this?
-Gulp.
The sound of my swallowing was embarrassingly loud, even amidst the screams and cheers.
It was too late to backpedal now.
“Uh, well…”
I cleared my throat, trying to break the silence.
I had to salvage the situation somehow.
“About that wish… you know…”
“Were you serious?”
“Huh?”
“Were you… serious about wanting to kiss me…?”
Renia cut me off.
I blinked in surprise before turning to face her. She was still staring straight ahead.
Then, I understood the underlying meaning of her question.
And only then could I manage a faint smile.
Her slightly flushed cheeks betrayed her shyness.
“Ah, well…”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
I realized I had to choose my words carefully now.
-Were you serious?
That question implied that this situation was completely different from the cheek kiss I had received with the previous wish coupon.
That time, it had been a playful peck between a boy and a girl. This time, it was like a heartfelt kiss between a man and a woman.
To be honest, I was a little flustered. I had made the “kiss” request somewhat playfully, and I hadn’t expected Renia to take it so seriously.
But it was a pleasant kind of fluster.
And a slightly apologetic one, too.
Seeing her unexpected serious reaction, I felt bad for making the request so lightly.
So, I wiped the playful expression off my face.
And I answered.
Confirming that the sincerity hidden within the playful request was real.
“I was serious.”
“…!”
“I want to kiss you.”
Of course, it was still a somewhat childish, innocent sincerity, befitting a young man and woman.
However, in love, the process was often more important than the result, and this innocent sincerity was something I could only feel and express now.
It was part of the process of growing from a boy and girl into a man and woman, the starting point of an explosion of emotions.
Renia turned her flushed face towards me.
Our eyes met, our hearts connected.
And in that connection, Renia could feel it.
That this perfect day she had experienced was just as perfect for Tae-jin.
Two perfect days had met and created an even more perfect day.
She didn't need to hear any more from him.
-I was serious.
Those three words were enough.
And those three words gave Renia courage, and she decided to respond to his sincerity with courage of her own.
“…Me too.”
“Huh?”
“I… want to kiss you too…”
She shyly expressed her courage.
Knowing how precious that courage was, I smiled warmly.
I shifted on the bench and moved closer to Renia.
A jolt of electricity passed between our touching shoulders.
Renia flinched and shyly shrugged her shoulders.
I placed my right hand on the bench behind her, closing the distance between us even further.
Like a squid shrinking from heat, Renia recoiled.
However, she was already pressed against the edge of the bench, with nowhere left to retreat.
“…!”
“…♬.”
Oblivious to the surrounding gazes and noise, we began to share only each other's presence.
It felt as if time had stopped.
Like meeting on the Ojakgyo, we exchanged our feelings in a silent clamor.[1]
Becoming one in trembling, one in joy.
I placed my left hand on my knee, leaning slightly towards Renia and turning my head.
Even though she knew I was getting closer, Renia didn’t move away.
Even though the sorrow of parting awaited them, even though the magnitude of that sorrow was immense,
At this moment, she wanted to escape those worries and be true to her feelings.
That’s how happy she was right now.
She wanted to shed the labels of different species, different planets, summon, and entrust her heart to Tae-jin.
So, she didn’t turn away.
As his face drew closer, she closed her eyes tightly.
Her heart pounded, as if it were about to burst into flames.
Her lips were dry and chapped.
She wanted to lick them, but she held back, worried it would look strange.
She could feel the distance between them shrinking, even with her eyes closed.
As he came closer and closer, Renia held her breath.
And a moment later,
-Chuu.
His lips touched hers.
His warm breath on her philtrum, the soft touch, it was completely different from before.
Even with her eyes closed, she felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning, and the surge of endorphins fueled her instincts.
Soon,
Her held breath escaped, and along with it, her instincts leaked out through her parted lips.
-Chu, chu.
As Renia opened her lips, Tae-jin followed suit.
Their breaths intertwined, warm and intoxicating.
It was an instinctive flow.
A dizzying mix of breaths, the inner surfaces of their lips rubbing together, exchanging sticky saliva.
It was an embarrassing moment, but Renia, with her eyes closed, didn’t care about the surrounding gazes and kissed Tae-jin deeply.
-Chu… smooch…
An erotic sound filled her ears.
Tae-jin’s breath, entering through her parted lips, warmed her lungs.
At the same time, her whole body felt hot.
His saliva, spreading in her mouth, was sweeter than candy, and she wanted to savor it all night.
-Chuu, smooch…
A tingling sensation in her lower body, a dizzying feeling as if her whole being was being drenched in pleasure.
If they weren’t in the amusement park, but at home, she might have done something presumptuous.
But his taste, more addictive than the regret she might feel later, left no room for complaints.
She focused solely on his breath, his warmth, his saliva.
Then,
“Mmmph?”
Something soft yet firm invaded her mouth, and Renia’s eyes flew open and she clamped her lips shut.
Something had entered her mouth without warning.
By the time she realized what that rude intruder was, it was too late.
-Chomp!
“Ow.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Due to my injury(?), our afternoon plans were canceled, and we were on the bus, heading home.
‘It hurts.’
That was my one-line review of my first kiss.
They said love hurts… Was this what they meant?
Renia had bitten me so hard that I thought my tongue might be severed, and the tip of my tongue still throbbed.
“….”
“….”
Even the bus was unusually empty today.
Thanks to that, we rode home in an awkward silence.
Even though we were closer than ever before.
Renia, who had been looking out the window, turned to me.
Her eyebrows were furrowed in a worried expression.
“Are… you okay? Does it still hurt?”
“I’m fine now.”
It still hurt.
But I didn’t want to ruin Renia’s mood.
Even though our afternoon plans were canceled, she had thanked me, saying it was the “best day ever.”
So what if my tongue was a little damaged?
As long as Renia was happy, I was happy.
“I’m sorry…. It was so sudden, I couldn’t help myself…”
“It’s okay, really. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“N-no! I really liked it…! Let’s do it again next time! I won’t bite you then…!”
“….”
‘Good thing the bus is empty.’
If anyone overheard our conversation, they would have thought we were talking about something else entirely.
I glanced around again, and Renia, finally realizing how our conversation sounded, gasped.
“Oh, no! That’s not what I meant…!”
-Chu.
Finding her flustered reaction adorable, I kissed her. The heat that had subsided from her face returned with the intensity of a midsummer day.
“…Hey! W-we’re on the bus…!”
-Smack!
Her cheeks flushed, and she playfully hit my arm.
But the corners of her lips were already turning upwards.
Mine were too.
Renia glared at me, her eyebrows furrowed, and I looked back at her, pouting slightly.
A moment later, we burst into laughter.
A silly, inexplicable laughter.
-Hiss.
As we were bickering, bus number 103 arrived at our stop, and we got off.
“Today was really fun. No, it was the best.”
“I had fun too. Should we go again sometime?”
“Yes! Anywhere… with you.”
We exchanged sweet nothings as we walked into the alley, but Renia trailed off mid-sentence, her voice turning questioning.
Her gaze was fixed on something.
I followed her line of sight and saw a woman.
No,
Two women, standing in front of my house.
“…Huh? Su-ah?”
One was Ercia, our 52nd-time regressor.
And,
“…Holder Kim Hye-seo?”
The other was none other than Kim Hye-seo, the head of the Monster Management Bureau’s villain investigation team.
Kim Hye-seo, who had been strangely absent since the Illusion terror incident, was waiting in front of my house with Su-ah.
And I,
…knew instinctively as I looked at them.
That something was coming.
I didn’t know what it was yet, but…
“I have something to tell you, Brother.”
“I have something to tell you too, Cadet Han Tae-jin.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
<w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">[1] [T/N: The bridge magpies form for the separated lovers in Korean folklore.]